Krasnitski Crushes in Verona

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Mike Krasnitski came out of nowhere to take the title here at Grand Prix Verona. This is the first major title for his country, and his fellow Ukrainians were out in full force, cheering for him all throughout the Top 8 and carrying him off into the sunset afterwards. And his road to victory was by no means easy, as he had to defeat both Platinum pros in this Top 8. First, he dispatched Shahar Shenhar in the quarterfinals, then Italian Samuele Estratti in the semis. Finally, in the final, he met Andreas Nilsson and his black-red Zombies, and again his green-white-black, or "Junk", Reanimator prevailed, a deck touted over last week by both Martin Jůza and Brad Nelson.

Coming into the tournament, the aggressive weenie decks in Naya and Jund were at the top of everyone's mind, but if anything, this Grand Prix marks the beginning of what some have called "The Restoration." Thragtusks and, most fittingly, Restoration Angels abounded in several of the winning decks, including Krasnitski's, proving that midrange strategies are still a force to be reckoned with.

Good night from all of us here in Verona, Italy, and congratulations to Mike Krasnitski, our Grand Prix Verona 2013 Champion!

What deck did you play and why did you choose it? Jund Control, because I lost so much against other Jund players at PT Montréal when playing Bant. I built the deck for the French team and Melissa Detora and couldn’t come up with any more ideas, so I left it in this state.

What changes would you make to your deck and why would you make them? Play Tormod’s Crypt instead of Grafdigger’s Cage. One less Slaughter Games in the sideboard and instead main deck it.

What was the most unusual card you've seen played this weekend?

Maybe the Duress, but I was mostly surprised by the lack of Esper or Bant in this Grand Prix.

Mike Krasnitski

Age: 30 Hometown: Kiew, Ukraine Occupation: Poker Player

Guild: Azorius

Previous Magic accomplishments: I made the cut for the National Team twice!

What deck did you play and why did you choose it? Junk Reanimator. I read Brad Nelson’s article about the best deck choice for GP Verona.

What changes would you make to your deck and why would you make them? Maybe add 2 more removals in the main deck. 2 copies of Purify the Grave in the sideboard.

What deck did you play and why did you choose it? Jund. Reid and I played the deck in Quebec city. He advanced to the Top 8 with it and I ended up on 22nd place. Owen topped PT Montreal with it (congratz again buddy)!

What changes would you make to your deck and why would you make them? I honestly don’t know. Jund is Jund. It really just depends on what you think you will play against.

Andreas Nilsson

Previous Magic accomplishments: Won a PTQ in Malmö.41st place at Bochum in 2012.

What deck did you play and why did you choose it? BR Zombies. I played 3 Trials with different decks. An Aristocrat deck with tokens, a Sam Black Aristocrat deck and BR Zombies. I won the Trial where I played Zombies, so I chose that deck.

What changes would you make to your deck and why would you make them? I might want to remove the Slaughter Gams from board for an Appetite for Brains.

Quarterfinals – Round-up

by Tobi Henke

The match between Samuele Estratti and Toni Ramis Pascual was covered, both in detail and in its entirety, on video. If you're not yet watching, well, you should. Meanwhile, here's quick rundown of what happened in the other three quarterfinals.

Despite a Farseek on turn two, Dezani passed his third turn without play, looking glum. But really he was just waiting for Schultze to tap out. And he did, casting Boros Reckoner. At end of turn, Dezani commited Murder, and on his turn dropped the proverbial bomb in Garruk, Primal Hunter. A constantly growing number of Beast tokens were joined by Thragtusk to take game two.

Only 2 more wins! That's what was on the minds of Denmark's Andreas Nilson and France's Jérémy Dezani. My briefing for this match included the fact that Nilsson was probably the fastest player in the whole Top 8; he hadn't wasted any time in the quarter finals, dismantling Piotr Wald. Could he do the same with Dezani?

Andreas Nilsson was the fastest player in this weekend's Top 8!

"You sure shuffle a lot?!" Nilsson started the chatter prior to the match. "Maybe that's the reason why you came so far!"

Both players kept their opening hands and it was Nilsson, who was on the play, who made the first move. He invited Diregraf Ghoul to his party.

Nilsson wasn't impressed; a Geralf's Messenger messenger came down, but Dezani used 2 removals on it to wipe the field once again!

There was more where the other zombies came from!

Nilsson wouldn't give up throwing threats at Dezani. This time it was Gravecrawler and Blood Artist. The former went in the following turn, leaving Dezani on 12. Vampire Nighthawk followed, Nilsson was now down to 1 card in his hand and that concluded the turn.

When Dezani passed without performing any actions, Nilsson sent everything in but the Blood Artist. 8 left for Dezani. Another Diregraf Ghoul followed.

Dezani finally found something to stop the bleeding!

Dezani finally found a fourth Land: Blood Crypt. That allowed him to add 2 possible blockers to his side of the field thanks to Huntmaster of the Fells and a Wolf creature token.

Nilsson, however, found yet another threat, wrapping things up in no time!

That didn't stop Nilsson, however, who wrapped things up in no time!

Andreas Nilsson 1 - 0 Jérémy Dezani

This time, it was Nilsson who took a little longer shuffling his deck. Dezani then picked up his opening 7 and after only little thought, he decided to keep them. Nilsson did the same.

Dezani now had to win 2 games in a row!

Nilsson took the first damage courtesy of a Blood Crypt. That allowed him to add Gravecrawler to his field, however.

This time Dezani had a Land on his fourth turn. He invited Olivia Voldaren to his party. He opted not to block with it the following turn when Gravecrawler attacked. Nilsson then added Geralf's Messenger and that concluded the turn.

Five cards remained in Dezani's hand and he considered his next play carefully. He dropped a Land and passed.

Nilssen also had a fifth land and he tapped 4 of them to cast Falkenrath Aristocrat. Dezani considered responding to the play, but he opted against it. Nilssen then attacked with everything.

The effect of Olivia Voldaren was supposed to deal with Falkenrath Aristocrat, but Nilsson simply added it's effect to the chain in response, making it indestructible. This happened twice. Geralf's Messenger came right back and before Dezani could even attempt to start any more shenanigans with Olivia Voldaren, Tragic Slip dealt with her. After the dust had settled, Dezani was left with 6 life.

Wow, quite the beating that Andreas Nilsson gave Jérémy Dezani! In our other semi final, game 1 was just about to finish, so the Danish player now had plenty of time to recuperate and prepare for his most important match this weekend!

1,208 players showed up bright and early yesterday morning and after 9 rounds of fierce competition on our first day, we cut the field to just 177. They had to prove themselves worthy in 6 more rounds today, narrowing things down to the final 8. This is where Mike Krasnitski and Andreas Nilsson and their Junk Reanimator and Rakdos decks went into overgear, catapulting both players into the finals of Grand Prix Verona!

Andreas Nilsson didn't skip a beat in the semis. Could he do the same when it mattered the most?!

Krasnitski didn't waste any time, taking 2 from his Land and playing Arbor Elf. Nilsson tried to match it with Diregraf Ghoul.

Krasnitski didn't perform any actions on his third turn, only dropping a Land. Nilsson went into the tank, considering whether to attack with Diregraf Ghoul or not. He cast Geralf's Messenger and opted not to.

Mulch got Krasnitski 2 more Lands. He attacked with Restoration Angel and the Beast creature token. Geralf's Messenger blocked the token, the Undying creature came back and after the dust had settled, Nilsson was on 17 and Krasnitski on 15.

Before Nilsson could put down these life totals, Krasnitski followed it up with Thragtusk, which meant he went up to 20 again.

Krasnitski used Thragtusk to stop Geralf's Messenger. Triggers resolved, leaving Nilsson on 21 and Krasnitski on 11. The life totals felt like a rollercoaster ride in this game!

The Ukrainian player now had to do some maths, trying to figure out the best play. He then dropped a Land, followed it up with Craterhoof Behemoth and he turned everything sideways!

Hoof! There it is!

"What is the total amount?" Nilsson asked. "40!" Krasnitski shot back. Game 2!

Mike Krasnitski 1 - 0 Andreas Nilsson

Both players took some time studying their respective opponent's deck list again and accessing their sideboards.

Mike Krasnitski now had a clear advantage in this match!

Nilsson decided to keep his opening 7 while Krasnitski shipped them right back.

Still, it was Nilsson who made the first play, casting Knight of Infamy on his second turn. Krasnitski on the other hand kicked things off when he used Mulch and he discarded a card at the end of his second turn.

Nilsson found another copy of Knight of Infamy. That meant when he sent the first in, both would trigger, leaving Krasnitski on 16. Diregraf Ghoul also jumped into the fray!

Krasnitski used Grisly Salvage, he found Avacyn's Pilgrim and he wasted no time casting it.

Play was back to Nilsson, who briefly glanced over his opponent's graveyard before attacking with all of his creatures. Krasnitski blocked one of the Knights, so both creatures traded, then he went down to 12. Geralf's Messenger followed, making it 10 on the Ukrainian.

Nilsson needed to break the ice; it didn't seem like he would be the one coming out on top if this Mexican standoff would continue any longer. He sent in his Knight of Infamy, which traded with the token.

Another Centaur Healer for Krasnitski, who once again went up to 12 after he had taken 2 the turn before.

The following turn, Krasnitski declared attacks and that's when Nilsson extended the hand!

Mike Krasnitski overcomes Andreas Nilsson 2:0

"There was nothing I could do!" Andreas Nilsson complained. That much certainly seemed true, with Mike Krasnitski finding enough copies of Thragtusk and Centaur Healer together with Restauration Angel, providing him with enough reach to survive until the later turns where he could claim total control of the game.

Top 5 Cards of Grand Prix Verona 2013

The continued popularity of Human Reanimator decks which usually win by milling all of the opponent's library with Undercity Informer led players to look for creative solutions. More than one player came up with the idea of running a singleton Serra Avatar in their sideboard, and Toni Ramis Pascual even made Top 8 with it! Of course, being left with one card in one's library doesn't help much if you can't kill your opponent within the one turn this buys. But if you're running Human Reanimator yourself, as Ramis Pascual did, you can then use your own Unburial Rites/Angel of Glory's Rise/Fiend Hunter/Burning-Tree Emissary/Undercity Informer combo to mill your opponent and win yourself.

True, Thragtusk is no longer very exciting. In fact, people simply accept its existence as an immutable constant. Often Thragtusk gets mentioned almost as an afterthought when describing games: "Oh yeah, and both players also had 5 extra life, a 5/3 creature, and a 3/3 creature." But together with Huntmaster of the FellsThragtusk still is the gold standard of Standard creatures, and it still is everywhere, whether in the matchup between Junk Reanimator and Jund or Bant Control versus Naya.

With the influx of the new dual lands from Gatecrash, Stomping Ground in particular, the GGG mana cost of Garruk is now less of a problem than it used to be, and the card as such is pretty amazing. While I've never throughout the weekend seen the planeswalker's ultimate ability activated, there's really no need to be disappointed. I've seen it creating an army of 3/3 tokens, often drawing three cards, sometimes five, and occasionally a lot more thanks to Kessig Wolf Run. It was instrumental in many Jund victories here in Verona, most notably in the quarterfinals of Jérémy Dezani.

As one of the centerpieces of the Pro Tour winning Aristocrats deck, Falkenrath Aristocrat really didn't need to prove itself, but did so anyway. This week, it went back to its roots and was prominenty featured in Andreas Nilsson's Rakdos aggro deck. He used it to great effect in his semifinal match, where the undead Vampire proved literally indestructible, fighting through multiple removal spells to deliver the final points of damage.